Harbinger

by tigerowl

Naruto's friendship with his teammates Gaara and Haku is put to the test as they prepare to deal with the threat of the Akatsuki. The secrets Jiraiya has kept come to a head, and Naruto must shoulder the responsibility of protecting much more than the Leaf Village. Continuation of Forlorn. AU NaruHina, GaaSaku, NejiTen, ObiRin, OCs *Taoism, Self-Indulgent World Building, longfic

41. The Fool and His Folly

Note: Hello all! Thanks for reading and commenting! Here we find Naruto after his close shave with Nature, Shikamaru adjusts, Tsunade doesn't sugarcoat a damn thing, and Haku changes his mind. Bonus: Hinata gets a letter from someone she doesn't expect. Twist at the end! Let the music tracks below hit you in the soul.

Chapter Soundtrack: 그밤/ "That Night" by Lovewave

& "Eternal Youth" by RUDE

It was the weirdest thing.

He could almost, no, he could feel the split of the cleavage furrow in a microscopic animal cell. It was routine mitosis, a process greatly overlooked by large organisms that cannot witness miracles so small with the naked eye. Pop. The parent cell split. Over and over. 'Whatever animal this is, it's getting bigger.' Naruto noticed. He still could not figure out on the macro-level where he was currently in the flow.

As far as consciousness went, Naruto was a bit more aware that he was stuck somewhere in Nature. Thankfully, everything was wildly interesting and distracting. Whether it was cheering on an orchid unfurling its petals over the course of several hours, or the worker ant that Naruto had joined on its 5-kilometer march in a single day… He was happily, obliviously occupied for 48 hours.

Naruto had even dreamed in the wilds. He dreamt of something that had happened once, long ago. A young man with dusty, beige hair was seated in meditation on top of a slab of slate, balanced on the point of a stone spire. It was a place in the Toad Valley, Naruto vaguely knew. The trainee seemed to be a student collecting Natural Energy. He did not move a muscle and kept perfect balance. Naruto admired such resolve and decided to chill with the supposed Senjutsu alumnus for a while. He kind of got the hang of it— relaxing and harmonizing with Nature from the stranger's perspective, and also from his own position above a spire.

The breeze felt marvelous. The serene quiet of the rocky field was great for meditation. Naruto was not sure how long he was there before he felt balance and then a great liveliness, 'Hm. Did I-?' He had a feeling he had achieved Sage Mode, or maybe he was imagining it all. Before he could investigate or celebrate the feeling, Naruto scrunched his face when a bit of valley dust wafted up on the breeze and tickled his nose. He sneezed loudly.

The sandy-haired student's eyes snapped open in surprise. He kept balance on the slate he was seated on while canting his head in confusion, wondering if he had heard something. Upon seeing that reaction, Naruto sensed that he had disturbed the meditating valley resident. 'Yeesh. I shouldn't bother him! I know how tough this training is.'

Then, Naruto started to come to with the most radical headache he had ever experienced. With a low, bellowing moan, he cracked his eyes open, squeezed them shut again, and failed to sit up. Naruto felt that he had been laid flat on a futon. Light in the room suggested in was late morning or mid-day.

Why was it so hard to move? He ached all over and felt the sting of a bag of ice tied to the top of his head. Naruto tiredly moved his hand and felt around, noticing a change of clothes he'd been switched into. He also felt a few paper tag seals stuck to his skin. 'What's…all this about? Did I get sick during training…? Oh shit, maybe I died? I dunno. Maybe when I wake up I'll be in the distant future like the premise of those lame fiction novels…'

"You wakin' up over there, Blondie?" A voice asked from the corner of the room.

Naruto opened an eye to spy the room's other occupant: a small green toad in a glitzy jacket. The toad sat cross legged on a cushion and had a stack of reading material beside him.

"…uh…erg…"

"Yeah, I'll bet that smarts. Ma and Pa told me you slammed face-first into our giant, toad oil cauldron. Do you know how solid that thing is? Pff! And don't get me started on what I did to ya…"

Sputtering with a slightly stuffed nose, Naruto pushed himself up slightly, "Have we…met?"

"Not that you'd remember, ya got clocked so hard. I'm Kinji. Ma and Pa's kid." Kinji licked a finger and flipped a page in a theatrical manuscript, "And I know that you are Naruto, Jiraiya's little golden duckling. You introduced yourself to me as some jerk fox, though."

"Oh shit! I'm sorry—" Alarmed, Naruto struggled to sit up and tried to make amends, "I think I might've passed out and sometimes the—!"

"You don't need to explain, Blondie. Jiraiya did a whole lotta gabbin' already." Kinji closed his manuscript and set it aside, "You've got a fuzzy tenant."

"Yeah…"

"I beat the hell out of 'em."

"It feels like you missed him and got me." Naruto rubbed his ribs tenderly through his shirt, "Are you a Sage?"

"I am a modern marvel." Kinji puffed up a little, "You bet your yellow head I'm a Sage. I knew your daddy too. We clowned around when we were younger."

Naruto was delighted, "You did?"

"Minato was my fellow bookworm and occasional karaoke partner! You know, when he was here in the valley." Kinji recalled, "Otherwise he was pledging his life and service to his village, and just generally being a nice guy."

He tossed his blanket off, "Are you kidding me-?"

"—nah, he wasn't perfect. He chased some red-headed chick around a lot—"

Naruto sidled up to the toad, "No, no, I mean, he could sing-?"

"He was better than me." Kinji shrugged, "And we were usually pretty sloshed by the time my Pa put music on."

The gleaming, genuine smile on Naruto's face took the toad aback. He gave Naruto a pat on the arm, "Uh…wait here. I've got to tell Jiraiya that you're up."

Naruto languidly rolled over on tatami mats and watched Kinji hop out of the room. He could hear a soft exchange of words outside. After that, Jiraiya appeared at the door and scrutinized Naruto suspiciously, "This isn't some trick, is it, Fox?"

"Whoa, Perv, you know it's me." Naruto frowned.

"Like I'm going to take my chances after you blew up part of the valley…" Jiraiya sniffed, "Say something only Naruto would say."

"I already did."

"Just cooperate or I'll slap another tag on you."

"Uh." Confronted with skepticism, Naruto was puzzled over how to prove his identity in a word, "Um…er…believe i—?"

"Alright, that'll do." Jiraiya cut him off and entered the room.

Immediately, Naruto had questions about Kinji, "Did he know Dad really well? How come I haven't met him before today? Can I summon him? Well, duh, I probably can. Oh, and you never told me Dad could—"

Jiraiya clapped his hand over his pupil's mouth, "Hold it. Let's talk. You were unconscious for two days. Don't you remember petrifying into a Toad Statue?"

"What the-! That happened?" Naruto gasped, "I thought I was just living the life of ants and flowers…temporarily."

"Yeah, well, there's nothing temporary about becoming a statue, Kid. For most people, anyway. Maybe that's where your consciousness and spirit goes when your body turns to stone. You just wander around Nature for all time or until you achieve enlightenment." The man smiled to himself, "And the thought of you becoming enlightened before me seems hilariously accurate."

"What is enlightenment anyway?" Naruto only had a vague notion of spiritual concepts.

"That's what the unenlightened ask." Jiraiya teased, peeling paper tags from Naruto's chest, "Sages are supposed to basically understand that mumbo-jumbo…which I may have glossed over. Sorry. Dhyāna is the term for meditation or no mind, and it's supposed to give us the state of perfect equanimity and awareness. That you already understand." Jiraiya acknowledged, "And when one is a Sage, that doesn't make one enlightened. Bodhi is the awakening, or, the understanding of the true nature of all things. Toad Sages understand life, balance and some other core knowledge. We don't necessarily understand how they connect with all the rest of the junk in this universe."

"So we don't get…Bodhi just by training in the valley?"

"No. Maybe you can, but I'm guessing you'll need greater insight than what we have here. The Great Toad Elder is probably enlightened. Or something like it." Jiraiya finished plucking tags from Naruto, "Anyway, don't scare me again. I'm a little hesitant to put you back to work after the fox ran amok…"

"So I…started to turn to stone, but…the fox stopped it." Naruto gathered, "And then he took over?"

"Yeah. Granted, he did kind of save your ass. Then he gave us grief."

"I don't really know where I went wrong…why can't I get this training right?" Naruto rubbed his head anxiously, "I felt like I was getting it!"

"You probably were." Jiraiya gave him that, "But was anything different that day? Did anything throw you off?"

"Er…" A few recollections drifted to the surface, "Well, maybe."

"Maybe?" Jiraiya arched a brow at him, "Define maybe."

"I spent most of the morning with Hinata, you know, the only way we can." Naruto admitted, "I showed her around and we talked…"

"And you think that impacted your ability to meditate?" Jiraiya ventured with a stern tone.

He felt rather cornered, "I…think it could have. I'm not saying it's her fault! I'm the one who has to get my act together."

"Right. But you don't want to create any more risk than what you are already up against." Jiraiya advised, "So, less with the remote-controlled dates and more with the discipline and focus. That's your recipe for success."

"Got it." Naruto agreed glumly.

"Good. You hungry? You haven't eaten in over a day."

"Yeah." Naruto pushed to his feet, "Literally any bug or fruit you put in front of me will do."

"Then let's funnel all that down your gullet, Kid." Jiraiya turned merrily out of the door, "And while we're at it, let's bother Kinji with embarrassing stories from when he was young."

---

It almost felt like watching a sitcom when he watched Ino's family.

Ino's mother Noriko was a demure brunette, her hair coiffed in a bun and her sundress immaculately pressed. For a moment, she and her daughter looked each other in the face while laughing girlishly. Shikamaru missed the joke from his place seated at a table. As he was visiting them for the morning and having tea, he watched his girlfriend interact with her parents. Noriko could finish Ino's sentences for her if she was given the chance, but she was much nicer than her filter-less, opinionated child.

Shortly after that, Inoichi thundered back into the kitchen for the third time, as he had clearly forgotten his keys, then the department memo, and then the swipe-card pass for high clearance Intel areas. Cursing his forgetfulness, Inoichi grudgingly accepted another pity-kiss on the cheek from his wife and then stalked out. 'He'll probably be back.' Shikamaru wagered. A bagged bento box was still sitting on the counter, and he imagined that was meant to go with Inoichi as well.

He stared blankly at wall artwork and sipped his tea. At the Nara house, his father would have already been long gone for a morning briefing at the office and then the Jounin Standby Station. Had he lingered at home, Shikamaru guessed his mother would have made small talk with him before diving into embarrassing subjects and/or grown impatient with him and shooed him out to be productive. The Yamanaka family actually liked when he hung around.

When Ino leaned down over the table and he accidentally, sort-of-on-purpose saw down the low cut of her top, it snapped him out of his contemplation. The blonde woman smiled slyly at him.

"Shouldn't we be going too?" Ino asked him, "If you're done with your tea. We have a mission assignment today."

"Yup." Shikamaru stood from his seat, "Chouji said that you two need to make a stop at the first floor offices?" He moved the teapot and cup from the table.

"Yeah, at the administrative building. We have to turn in paperwork for higher clearances." Ino clarified, "It should only take a few minutes."

After cleaning up and saying their farewells to Noriko, they set out through town for the Hokage's tower. Strolling side-by-side down the street, the pair engaged in sidelong conversation.

"That tea wasn't your favorite. I could see it on your face."

"It doesn't have to be my favorite to be drinkable." Shikamaru pointed out.

"How does my outfit look?" She was, as always, very polished-looking.

"Fine. Just like yesterday's. And whatever you threw together the day before that. You can wear your vest over anything, Ino."

"I was thinking maybe I don't want to…"

"You're wearing it today."

"I'm capricious."

"I know."

"Shika, I'm still surprised you woke up early today." Ino reflected, "Early enough to catch breakfast with my family at least."

"I prefer your schedule. My parents are nutjobs up at the crack of dawn."

"Yes, but…I'm surprised." Her lips were curling nefariously, "That you're okay with so little sleep."

"…it was enough." He was watching her from the corner of his eye, "I don't see you complaining either."

"I'd trade beauty rest for a few hours of empty house with you any night." Ino was humming happily to herself. He knew very well that she was referring to nocturnal activities he had initiated. Even though sex had to be scheduled to avoid pestering families and conflicts of time, Shikamaru could admit it was still the greatest thing ever.

The subject of conversation drifted away from: could you do that again sometime? and don't hate on violet lace, you still pulled it off me with your teeth! to: Shut up, there's Chouji.

And Chouji greeted them in the warm, sunny way he always did while offering a tin of muffins he had been eating from on the way to the tower. They politely declined and entered the building together. Chouji left his muffin tin with Shikamaru before he and Ino continued on to the Processing Bureau down the hall. He loitered in the lobby and nodded in salutations when some Chunin associates scurried by.

Asuma rounded the corner after descending the stairwell and immediately honed in on the muffins. He said hello to Shikamaru after his first bite.

"Are you not being fed well?" Shikamaru snarked.

"Kurenai and I don't do breakfast anymore. That shit's for newlyweds and posers." Asuma announced, scarfing the food, "Sato gave her coffee for her birthday and we've been converted."

"That still won't stop you from starving."

"Sure it won't, but coffee works quicker."

They took a seat on a lobby bench.

"You came in with Ino?" Asuma noted, "I saw you from the window upstairs after my briefing."

"That's right."

"Huh, so are you living there now or what? I hardly ever see you come from the Nara House." Asuma snickered, "Her parents should charge you rent, at least."

"I don't have that kind of money and it's just a meal here and there. I'm still at home for the most part."

"Why don't you get a place together?"

"Because that's wasteful."

"How about: because you'd want to?" Asuma wondered, "Couples do that."

"Dad said we could, but it won't look right if our clan elders examine the formality of everything." Shikamaru explained, "If Ino said she wanted to, then I would."

"Then that makes sense." Asuma agreed, sighing, "You know what Kurenai said to me after we first moved in together? We were still pretty young. She said: I don't want to do anything else for a while. I want to make Jounin rank and train up a team of Genin. So I said: Train them up? Into what? Apparently she meant to Chunin or adulthood, or whichever came first." He finished off his muffin, "That's a long time to live together and do nothing; I'd just like to say."

"So then why did you stay with her?" Shikamaru snorted, "She made it clear what she intended to do."

"Because of two main reasons: One, I was the one who liked her and suggested that dating me would be a good idea. And two, after we became a team out of the Academy and got to know each other as Genin, I knew it was best to let Kurenai do exactly what she wanted to do." Asuma replied evenly, "That's what made her happiest."

"What about what made you happy?"

"She made me happy." Asuma grinned like a sap, "She still does."

"Hm." Shikamaru said, considering it.

"I think…now that all of you youngsters have made Chunin rank…Kurenai feels like she can take a step back now." Asuma observed, "If I've been reading the signals correctly, I am pretty sure she's ready to settle down."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. We're itching for kids. Every toddler we see on the street is suddenly interesting and worth critiquing."

Shikamaru was not sure what to say. For his part, he was still mostly ambivalent about marriage, children, and other such commitments. He gave his sensei a slanted, bamboozled look.

"When we get married I'd like for you all to be there." Asuma added.

"Are you so sure she'd say yes? You've asked her before. 12 years of turning you down is enough time to make someone comfortable." Shikamaru was a bit sharp with his response.

"Shit, Shikamaru…" The man chuckled softly, "I'm not sure if you are speaking in defense of me…or if you genuinely disagree that an investment of over a decade is worth anything."

"I don't know if it is." Shikamaru replied.

"That's the difference between me and you, I think. You're skeptical of everything." Asuma reflected, "I, on the other hand…am too optimistic for my own good." He lectured a little, "You don't achieve your dreams by questioning the odds constantly. You need to take some risks and be willing to get hurt. That's the only way you ever truly come to appreciate something."

Shikamaru noticed that today, for some reason, this sentiment resonated with him more. He wasn't feeling as sure of himself. He was acutely aware of the future, and some of his insecurities had manifested. He'd been preoccupied with the reality that the Nara and Yamanaka clans could enact provisions, or strip inheritance and responsibility from him or Ino if they pursued their relationship seriously. A future together was not forbidden or frowned upon, but at least one of them, Shikamaru was aware, would give up the majority of his or her clan-related duties if marriage was in the cards. Since that was bothering him, perhaps he ought to reign it in and give his sensei a break?

"Sorry, Sensei. I don't know what's gotten into me…" Shikamaru edited himself, "Kurenai-sensei will—"

Asuma gently knuckle-punched his student's cheek, "She already said yes, you brainiac. Why else am I inviting students and talking about this stuff?"

"Oh." Shikamaru straightened up on the bench. Yeah. Projecting his concerns onto others made him awfully blind.

When Ino and Chouji returned, Asuma did not bring up the subject again. He engaged in pleasantries and good-humored teasing with them before asking Shikamaru to, "Lead this team well. I've got my hands full today…" Then he was off.

Shikamaru supposed Asuma would update his students on the matter when things were official. He returned Chouji's muffin tin and followed a step behind him and Ino. He was transfixed on the to-and-fro swing of Ino's long, cornsilk ponytail.

Maybe the other thing that was eating at him lately was that he was starting to think Ino was a bit too good for him. Though boisterous and confrontational at times, Ino had fulfilled three interviews with the Sensory Corps, the Intel Corps, and the Medical Corps for significant auxiliary positions and had turned heads in every building she set foot in. The thought made him restless. He envied her family and their congeniality. Her confidence. He heard the mutterings of those admiring Ino as she passed by.

And yet, Shikamaru thought to himself as they scaled the stairs of the building: she'd chosen to have a morning meal with him, cracked jokes with him, dated him exclusively, and had also made five hours in his bed last night so memorable that he still saw her behind his eyelids when he blinked. So he bucked up a little and smiled to himself.

Ino noticed. She canted her head at Shikamaru and stopped while Chouji proceeded into the Hokage's office. The angles of her lips and eyebrows noted: That smile of yours means something.

He touched the back of her arm as she walked into the office, angling his eyebrows in a silent reply. Astute, Ino nodded and flipped her hair out of her face. She got it. She smiled to herself.

"Make this quick because I have three consecutive briefings after you." Tsunade greeted and then added, "Good morning, all."

As a team, "Good morning, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade gladly accepted a muffin from Chouji when he left it on her desk, "Oh! You angel."

Shikamaru approached the desk and accepted the scroll the Hokage handed him, listening as she gave a short briefing to the team.

"Don't expect any stimulation from this assignment. You're going to Tanzaku Quarter, reporting straight to the court offices on the east side, you know— the white brick building." Tsunade sighed as she went on, "You'll oversee the proceedings of a case with the Shibusawa family, accused of defrauding a host of their clients to make a fortune. Maito Ken will be there with two attorneys and witnesses…and I'd like you three to make sure that our people could not be safer in that building."

"They're having a rough year, that family." Shikamaru recalled bankruptcy and other woes that had befallen the Shibusawa clan.

"It wouldn't be so rough if they could so much as attempt a legal transaction." Tsunade sniffed.

"Tama's father is on this case?" Ino verified.

"Yes." The Hokage smiled and added sarcastically, "He's charming."

Chouji and Ino knew definitively that was a false statement.

"Return tonight and give me details tomorrow morning. If…any thugs or mercenaries happen to drop by that court room…make them squeal before arresting them. It's clean up season and I want that district swept for low-lifes that the Shibusawa family gave a pass for so long. Intel will help us empty Tanzaku Quarter, or at least start to." Tsunade lifted her muffin and gave it an experimental nibble, "Hm!" She liked it.

Shikamaru assured her that they would see it done, and then his team carried on after being dismissed. They passed by Neji and Lee as the pair dropped into the Hokage's office immediately afterward.

Tsunade held a finger up to them so she could finish chewing. She needed to relish her breakfast.

Respectfully, Lee greeted the village leader while Neji stood in silence. He looked gray and weary. Tsunade cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Hyuga, I've seen corpses that looked more approachable." She concluded chewing, "Ah. Eh-hem, so, it'll be the two of you today."

"You are confirming that, Tsunade-sama?" Lee asked with a hint of concern, "Neji and I have not…been able to find Tenten since the day before last."

"Gentlemen, she has obligations and they were cleared with me. I excused her from missions." She waved it off, "You will see Tenten tomorrow morning, I assure you. For now, I ask that you kindly supervise the transportation of expensive medical equipment to the clinic in Kaido. 20 kilometers south of Leaf, if you're rusty on that location. It's a watering hole of Hatake Sato's and he's chummy with the mayor there…" Tsunade handed a scroll with details to Lee, since Neji was still not animated, "Please. Take this seriously. This a gesture of good faith with that town whose preeminent medic-nin is almost as experienced as I am, Eto Sarincha. Or whatever her surname is now… See to it that shipment gets to town without issue. The likelihood of interference is rather high…but you two should…" She paused and frowned at Neji, reconsidering her confidence in them.

"No such interference will disrupt the delivery on our watch, Hokage-sama!" Lee tried to avert the Hokage's notice of Neji and his glum expression.

"Do you need a shot of Vitamin-B?" Tsunade tried to assess the problem, "Or is this a personal problem that is going to affect performance, Hyuga?"

He straightened a little, for Lee's sake. Neji replied, "There will be no disruption, Hokage-sama."

"Good. I expect you back tonight and a follow-up report in the morning. Give Sarincha and her mayor-husband my best. And if her father is ever local again…" Tsunade simpered, "Migawari has something of mine that I intend to win back. Be sure to pass that on, Lee."

"Yes ma'am!"

And they were off after dismissal, walking a bit slower than usual down the hall while discussing the elephant in the room.

"Tsunade-sama did not tell us what Tenten's obligations were." Lee observed.

"She isn't anywhere. Not her home. Her shop. Our training areas. Nor with friends, who were suspicious of my asking…as it was uncharacteristic." Neji added, "Tenten did not tell either of us she would be…out."

"No, she did not."

"Because of her impeccable timing…" Neji rubbed his head, vexed, "I haven't been able to tell Tenten anything."

"But Tsunade-sama said she will return tomorrow morning. Perhaps it was some sort of work or personal matter?"

"Can you think of a time that Tenten has not expressly told us where she would be, when she intends to be absent?" Neji countered.

"Never." Lee yielded, "Not since the no-contact order…"

Lee watched his friend's face, negotiating the steps in the stairwell while Neji stewed on Tenten's unexpected absence. She would have no idea what Neji intended to do. Now responsible for a mission that would take up the better part of a day, Neji was probably imagining where to start looking for her when they returned at night; moreover, how Tenten would react to his decision to join the Branch.

On the first floor, Lee cleared his throat. Neji snapped out of his musing and blinked at him.

"This scroll says we will meet the equipment manager at the shipping depot. It is close by. What I mean to say is…we can expedite this mission if it will take your mind off the matter, Neji." Lee offered, moving a bit more briskly as his friend matched his pace, getting it, "We can make good time! Then I will assist in searching for the flower of our team when we return."

Neji was grateful for the suggestion, "Lee—"

"Do not tarry!" Lee caught Neji's shoulders and pushed him into a run.

---

After concluding her morning meetings in the administrative building, Tsunade handed off a variety of paperwork and incidentals to Shizune and Sakura before migrating to Konoha's hospital.

Venturing up from the hospital lobby and through the ward on the second floor, Tsunade was briefly detained by her celebrity as some Chunin-ranked medics, still shiny-eyed with pressed lab coats, stopped to chat her up and ask for wisdom. She allowed for six minutes of ego-plumping conversation before she barked at her subordinates to "check charts and quit socializing!" At the far end of the corridor, Tsunade strolled into a patient room without announcing herself.

Tama looked up from reading an unwound scroll in her lap, rolling it closed at she acknowledged the village leader, "Good morning, Tsunade-sama!"

"Hello, Tama." She stopped to glance over a patient chart at the side of the room, "You'll be happy to know I left your father in capable hands while he works on a case today. Shikamaru's team will ensure his safety."

"Thank you, those are capable hands indeed." She was merry and pain-free, but Tama sobered up a little when the Hokage shut the door to the room and then strode over to the bed.

With no preamble, Tsunade laid her hands flat on each of the girl's knee caps and stared off unseeing, surveying the state of Tama's crushed legs. Shortly after that, her sensing-fingertips travelled to Tama's left hand, "Better? Sakura and I worked to mend this famous punching hand of yours."

"Yes. Much better! I'm still getting motion back through physical therapy with Sakura-chan."

Tsunade stopped the examination and took a seat on a rolling stool, "I want you to be honest with me."

"Yes, milady."

"Any feeling in your lower legs or feet?"

"…no."

"About what I expected. How about your back? Any trouble there?"

"No. My back feels fine. I told Sakura-chan I can move and feel down around mid-thigh."

"That's encouraging to hear…" The Hokage frowned, "But I suppose we should discuss your options should you wish to continue being a shinobi. You do still want to serve, am I right about that?"

Tama had a stern look not unlike her uncle's most serious expressions, "Yes, I really do."

"Then your options are few, considering your physical state. On the one hand, you can accept a permanent disability status in Leaf and choose from any clerical opening in any of the Corps that are hiring. We could leave it at that to guarantee your health and well-being. Or, you could elect to take an elevated risk and visit Kusagakure for its renowned medical tourism, as I've heard that they have those with talents and Kekkei Genkai that can address severe injuries…" Tsunade trailed off and looked out the window, "But your ability to access such treatment is unlikely, because the demand for it far outpaces its supply and the availability of physicians."

"On the other hand…" Tsunade's tone took on a blade's edge of severity, "You take the most risky option and seek treatment with me."

It nearly seemed like a no-brainer cue to agree, but before Tama could assert her confidence in the Hokage, Tsunade stopped her with a raised hand. Tama stayed quiet.

"What I can do for you is uncertain." Tsunade clarified, "In all of my years of experience, I have only once treated a similar extent of bone and connective tissue damage. That was some time ago. Though my patient had a good result after the procedure, he died shortly after of complications." She looked Tama squarely in the eye, "Reversing your injury will have a 50 percent success rate at best, not counting possible post-op issues you may experience. Should you survive surgery, rehabilitation will take time and dedication to yield improvement, and it does not guarantee the same standard of life you knew before injury. Do you understand?"

"I understand, Tsunade-sama." Tama was listening carefully.

"I say this to you in confidence because you are of the age of majority in Leaf, and so you can make this decision without parental guidance. However…" Tsunade balanced her chin on the back of her hand, "With such a high rate of failure to be considered, I hope you ask yourself what you stand to lose by continuing a career as a shinobi."

"Quite a lot…" Tama noted, shoulders drooping, "I…I know my family would be…frustrated if I made a careless decision that cost my life."

"And your husband-to-be…I don't know how I could ever deal with him if he lost you." Tsunade thought of Sato, adding, "He and Kakashi…they consider you their family. They have already had their share of loss…and I dare not imagine what it would be like if you died under my hands instead of living in safety in their care."

"…I understand." The young woman grew quiet, her eyes wandering to watch the wall clock as the minute hand made its revolution. Tsunade also took the moment to stare off into space.

"Maybe I shouldn't." Tama supposed. A silence hung in the room.

Tsunade sighed and fidgeted with the end of a pigtail that was draped over her shoulder. She was not very good at giving counsel about these sorts of things. She painted a scene with a brush of truth and facts, and sometimes that hurt far more than the sugarcoated optimism she wished she could peddle. Tsunade, a survivor of lost loved ones herself, could certainly relate to the pain that would be felt by Sato, Gai, Kakashi, and Tama's family, were Tama to perish. Not that Nawaki and Dan had any real choice in their respective demises, but Tsunade hoped that Tama would see the value in that she had a choice at all.

"Tsunade-sama…do you know what I'm good at?" Tama wondered absently, still watching the clock, "Lots of things."

"Yes, I've heard." The woman smiled wanly.

"My father saw to it that…there were few things I couldn't do. Self-sufficiency, skill, and knowledge…that's my father's mantra." Tama closed her eyes and leaned her head back, "I can make budgets. I can memorize laws and texts. I can negotiate deals. I can calculate probability and percentages in my head. I can cook most anything. I can build a house. I can dance. I can ride a bike without touching the handle bars. I'm getting good at hot-wiring things, and I can tell you what day of the week any calendar date was or will be."

"Huh." Tsunade said.

"I can get a job doing…anything. I guess."

"Perhaps going into your father's field would be lucrative." Tsunade imagined.

"I could…but all of those things I can do…aren't the things I want to do." Tama admitted, "I want to be a shinobi. Most of my life, others made decisions for me. My uncle and Kakashi-sensei, and my mother too, decided who I would marry. My father told me to turn away from a ninja career and the Taijutsu style of my family. Even my friends at the bakery, though they mean well…tell me what they think is best."

Tsunade was nodding and watching the girl from the corner of her eye.

"For so long I've been comfortable…humoring the people that steer me. But I am tired of that." Tama explained, "I'm so tired of that."

"So then you want to undergo the procedure here in Leaf?" Tsunade ventured.

"I don't need to inform anyone that I'm going into surgery, do I?"

"Generally it's a best practice to tell someone. You'll put me in a precarious position if you should die, you realize." Tsunade advised.

"I…" Tama pursed her lips and thought on it.

"Maybe we should schedule it for down-time between Sato's missions." Tsunade assumed, "I sent his team on a tracking assignment, and I have a few other requests much like it that I need them to fulfill."

"Right, well…" Tama appeared clearer in her decision, "I want to speak to Kakashi-sensei."

"Oh?"

"Do you happen to know if he's in the village-?"

"Well of course I do, I have a bone to pick with him." Tsunade pushed up from the rolling stool and stood, "Before I nag him, I will send him to you. Talk. Consider everything. Then give me your answer."

"I will, Tsunade-sama." She offered the Hokage a small smile.

"Oh and do you have any special food requests?" Tsunade stopped at the door on her way out, "I can have your Sensei bring you something."

"A doughnut." Tama said hopefully.

---

The table of the apartment was littered with fine jewelry and ornaments. Shell bracelets trimmed with gold, magatama pendants of jade and quartz on gold, beaded chains, tassel earrings dripping in sapphires and rubies, a platinum dragon pendant with scales cut from rainbow bismuth; brooches, headpieces, hair pins fitted with diamonds and silver.

Haku nearly fell over when he watched Zabuza turn out the silk bag on the table top and sniff disinterestedly at the spoils. "Y-You-! You didn't steal that from the dignitary—?"

"Can it, Haku. I grabbed the oaf's whole goddamn bag. How was I supposed to know he had a fuckload of gems in there with the agreements from Mist?" Zabuza chucked the silk bag aside, "Guess I can dump it all at an auction in the Land of Mountains. Aristocrats there love this kind of junk."

"You are richer than sin already." Haku's hand thunked down to emphasize the point, "You don't need to sell this, Zabuza. We should distribute it the townspeople here."

"In case you've forgotten I have to buy Terumi's men out. And their loyalty to her has made them expensive." Zabuza growled, "We'll hit up an auction in a few months' time."

"If you insist on doing so then you can part with a few pieces." Haku disagreed, "The old Shibasaburō sisters and Oguni-san can use this to fix their houses. Tomo-san can use this too for the children's schooling…and Hiroshi-san…"

"Alright, just take whatever." The grouchy nukenin loped away from the table to prospect for food in the refrigerator.

Haku thoroughly ignored Zabuza's grousing and muttering in the background while he examined a few specimens. Not that he had a trained eye for luxury, but Haku assumed some of the finer metals and gems would fetch higher prices for the struggling retirees of the island. He set aside what looked like it could have been the headpiece of an empress, some brooches and other jewelry.

He fell still while handling a magnificent hand fan. The hinoki material was printed with impossibly rich colors; a blue sky strung with clouds that bled into a sunset scene, and in the foreground, brushwork of a kite flying in the shape of a swallow. On the table beside it were a hair pin and ring inlaid with gems of the same color scheme. Perhaps it was more than Zabuza would allow him to take and set aside for neighborhood senior citizens, so Haku pocketed those items without a word for himself.

Zabuza told him to fetch nori, miso and mushrooms to throw into a pot of simmering broth for noodles. Haku moved about the small space, stuck in his thoughts which he collected the foodstuffs…and they paused as Ranmaru entered through a creaking door and slowly tottered into the room. He had a noticeable, red lump on his forehead.

"Did Thunderbrain do that to you?" Zabuza was half-concerned at the sight of the apprentice who he, for the most part, considered competent and trustworthy now.

"No." Ranmaru took a seat on an armchair and rested a glowing hand on the lump, "I failed Migawari-sensei's healing exam."

"A second time?" Haku was surprised, and handed over a bag of ice to his friend, "He barely had the patience for your first evaluation. Migawari-san gave you extra time to study and practice, Ranmaru. I didn't think he'd…actually whack you with the paddle he's been brandishing. I thought that was just a threat."

"You passed on your first try, Haku-kun. I mixed up a few things and…" Ranmaru sighed, "It wasn't a threat."

Haku clucked his tongue disapprovingly.

"He said that because we don't pay him for lessons that the least I can do is not waste his time." Ranmaru recalled glumly.

"This was the arrangement he asked for. We help around his office in exchange for lessons." Haku returned to the table to clear away spoils and prepare to chop vegetables, "Well then, Migawari-san won't see a single bead of what Zabuza brought back with him."

"He better fucking not, that cheap pickle drum." Zabuza agreed distantly from a storage closet.

Ranmaru raised his lavender eyebrows at the last shining pieces being dropped into the silk bag, "Oh…! He would want that whole bag of riches. I won't say anything to him, Haku-kun, promise."

"I know."

Another sigh, "I didn't want Raiga to see my head or he'd get angry."

"Just wait here until the swelling goes down." Haku recommended.

"I'll study a bit harder." Ranmaru resolved, and then looked up at Haku from his seat, "Haku-kun, because you passed Migawari-sensei's exam…that makes you a medic-nin."

"Not officially." Haku chided, dicing leeks on a cutting board.

"But Migawari-sensei said that was the test he used to give to Chunin in Kusagakure before they were certified."

"That doesn't mean I am certified. It just makes me knowledgeable; that I can save lives if I must." Haku reasoned, "I'm a Genin. I'm nothing more than that."

"Well," Ranmaru smiled to himself with his hands in his lap, "I'm not even that. But I'll be something someday."

Haku laughed quietly at him.

"Quit yaking and make yourself useful if you're gonna lay low here, Pipsqueak." Zabuza warned as he returned to the kitchen area, "Mix or chop something."

"Yes, Zabuza-san!"

Zabuza gave the child a weird look, absorbing just how unusual it had become to hear such a thing from another apprentice's mouth. Not long after preparations, boiling noodles, and pan-frying thin fillets of pork, Zabuza grudgingly allowed Ranmaru to join them for lunch as well. Ranmaru was not a big eater, so Zabuza permitted the small purple remora to hang about.

They ate and Ranmaru's head lump faded. After folding his hands in thanks for the meal and washing some dishes, Ranmaru was off again to find his master.

Zabuza was about to settle down for a nap when Haku plopped down on the sofa beside him.

"What? Are you going for the world record in irritating me today?" The man rumbled. He peered through a slitted eye as Haku held open a scroll for him. He wanted an opinion.

"See this? For me to apply this Yin Seal, I would need to write all of the script formulas in multiple matrices. Flesh, parchment, and soil, I'm guessing…" Haku handed the scroll off to Zabuza who brought it closer to his face to read it and understand, "Have you ever done something like this before?"

Zabuza wondered, "What is this shit?"

"It's the Godaime Hokage's Yin Seal."

"Hokage's seal my ass." Zabuza snorted in disbelief, "If this is her seal then I'm a florist."

"Then you're a florist." Haku asserted flatly.

Zabuza just looked at him. After a moment, he unwound the scroll and suspended his disbelief, examining more of what was required to use the technique.

"How the fuck did you get this?"

Haku shrugged it off, "Does it matter? I asked you if you've ever applied something like this before."

"Not recently. Not ever this complex." Zabuza admitted, "And all you get for it is a bindi, this says."

"Ah." Haku said faintly.

"Who the hell has worked on something this convoluted before? Sealing Corps Commissioners, maybe, or other formula-scribbling geeks with no lives…" The man supposed as he sat up, "You're gonna need a lot of ink— serious ink, to write this. We don't exactly have that shit handy." He exhaled between the line of his lips, thinking about it.

"So we could feasibly accomplish this?" Haku wondered, leaning over to see how far Zabuza had gotten.

"Feasibly." Zabuza snickered at the word, "Yeah. This looks like…I don't know. Four hours' worth of Fuinjutsu writing? Not that I can judge accurately, because I was never a candidate for the Sealing Corps. This is technical stuff that, as you know, you can't fuck up. If you write a single character of the formula wonky or omit anything, you can fry yourself, seal your chakra, or waste all that work once it sits there inert. There are jutsu that can help you avoid mistakes but, again, not my field of expertise."

"How do you know so much?" Haku took back the scroll and rolled it shut, "Even at the Academy we only got the bare minimum of Sealing information."

"Yeah, well, I had this crap drilled into my head when I was a kid." Zabuza pushed off of the sofa to riffle around a chest of supplies.

Haku was mildly curious, "Drilled into your head…by whom?"

"My old badger of a grandmother."

"Really?"

Annoyed, Zabuza glanced over his shoulder at Haku, "You really don't know a damn thing about the Water Country, do you?"

Haku frowned, "What should I take that to mean—?"

"My old badger is, oh I don't know, kind of a big fucking deal in these parts. Even more surprising is that she's outlasted everyone else in my family and is still kicking. She just refuses to die." Zabuza went back to fishing parchment, ink, and other materials from the chest, "Momochi Honesuki. She was a Sealing Corps Commissioner in Mist when I left, and then for a while I think she was the Director of the whole fucking operation…but I guess now…"

Haku filled in the blank and recalled their discussions of possible Akatsuki interference.

"I guess she's been demoted, murdered, or she wipes the Akatsuki's ass these days. I have no clue." Zabuza presumed, "She liked to call me the biggest disappointment of her life."

"You sound alike."

"Maybe we are. Maybe it pays to be a ruthless motherfucker like her. My parents weren't. They were soft…and they wound up dead." The man observed. He brought an armful of supplies over to the table, "So yeah. Get educated. People in this land may know my name or at least my alias, but everyone everywhere knows my grandma is hot shit."

Haku was intrigued and also disturbed.

"Get over here, Numbnuts. Bring that scroll."

He moved to the table and set down the Yin Seal scroll, watching as Zabuza lifted and clacked ink containers on the table top.

"No good. We'll need at least triple this. Since it requires multiple matrices then writing on dirt will be a pain in the ass, so we're better off with stone or concrete. You'd need to pick the proper area to even start putting this thing together…"

Haku nodded and watched, impressed. Over the last few months, it had felt as though Zabuza had become incredibly unhelpful by withholding information about the Yuki clan, and also because of his volatile hostility levels, 'But I can't deny he still teaches me things routinely…'

They talked briefly about an ideal place to apply the seal, where they would attract the least attention or hassle. Hiroshi's fenced-in courtyard seemed like the frontrunner of their options, but Haku digressed again with another question.

"Zabuza, could your grandmother help us learn if—"

"Don't." Zabuza stopped him, "Don't even ask. We're not on speaking terms and haven't been since I first got good at assassinations."

"But she might know-!"

"She resents me. I didn't want to inherit her Sealing twaddle and all that shit; not the distinction, not the money, not their problems, or the nose-up bravado that commissioners use to justify how they stand on the backs and shoulders of everyone else in the village." Zabuza shut the idea down, "She can strain and die on a toilet for all I care. In Mist, she signed off on bounties and warrants for me. Fuck her."

Haku sighed heavily.

"Don't fucking sigh at me. You'd hate her too if you met her."

"I'm not so convinced that I would."

"Oh, so you want to sass me and ask for my help with this sacred Leaf shit?" He snorted.

"More of the latter, honestly."

"Fine. If sticking this thing on your forehead will make you less likely to die and more useful to me, sign me up." Zabuza finished jotting down a list of items necessary for the project, "But shut your fucking face and go buy all the ink the old farts have in town. All of it."

He swiveled Haku around by his shoulder, directing him out of that flat as he muttered, "That's the last time I bring up the badger…"

---

On the way back to the Hidden Leaf Village after completing a mission, near the border of the Tea Country, Hinata picked up medicinal herbs as she and Shino spotted them in the wilderness. It was a bonus task from Tsunade. Hinata's salves could fetch a nice price in Kaido, which had increased its imports from Leaf following the Chunin Exam's success.

When they lagged, Sato whistled for them to keep up.

At about that time, Hinata leaped in surprise when a green toad bounded over an ancient tree root in front of her. Though about the same size as Kosuke, this was a toad she was not familiar with.

"Leaf headband, very pretty, within the approximated area…" The toad went over a mental checklist, "You're Hinata-hime, is that right?"

"Yes! Do you have something for me from Naruto-kun?" Hinata brightened in excitement.

"Nope." The toad handed over a scroll to Hinata, "I'm Kinji by the way. Pleased to make your acquaintance, your loveliness." When he extended his webbed hand, Hinata dubiously and graciously shook it, returning the sentiment.

Nearby, Shino and Sato had stopped on a nearby tree branch to watch the exchange.

"It looks like you're a bit busy, so I'm just gonna head back to the valley." Kinji observed, "You can send a reply with 'lil Kosuke in Leaf, when you want to."

"Um…thank you, Kinji-san."

"Nah, just Kinji's fine." The toad waved it off, "See you around, Hinata-hime!" And as quickly as Kinji had arrived, he was off again in the forest.

Hinata stood there for a moment and wondered why anything had been delivered at all if Naruto was not the sender.

"Random!" Sato assessed, "Come on Sunshine, Shino. We've been pretty slow today and it's another five hours to Leaf. Want to make camp tonight and set out in the morning?"

The team unanimously agreed to gather food and tinder to make camp. As afternoon waned and the starry dark of the deep forest creeped in around them, the group huddled up in the evening around a campfire.

While Sato and Shino discussed why the squirrel meat they had caught, skinned, and cooked was the worst thing they had tasted in a while, Hinata sat and read her correspondence by firelight.

Dear Princess,

Hope you've been well! I bet you never expected to get any kind of communications from a coffin-dodger like me, but this is Jiraiya writing to you on Naruto's behalf. I need to catch you up on a few things that happened. Based on my account and, thankfully, Naruto's account of the events, let me try to sum it up for you.

Shortly after your last visit with Naruto by way of your teleconference jutsu (Tell me if you have named it yet, for I am ignorant) there was a training accident that occurred while Naruto was distracted. He gathered too much Natural Energy and petrified into stone. My colleagues and I here in the valley were pretty sure he was a goner.

Hinata gasped while she read, pressing on quickly. She ignored Sato's concern over her squeal.

Through a series of unexpected circumstances and maybe divine intervention, Naruto's life was spared and I can report that he is all flesh and no stone at this point in time. He was unconscious for two days, but woke up with no visible side effects or impairments after absorbing that amount of Natural Energy. With that said, my point is this: I want to respectfully ask you to refrain from "visiting" Naruto while he is training here on Mount Myoboku. The good news is that he's on the verge of a breakthrough, but the bad news is that if he gets distracted and slips up again, I don't know if he'll be so lucky next time. Just for now, avoiding him will be to his benefit and can keep him safer. I know you'd want that for him too.

But to allay any of your concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions or need an update. I get it, he's a lovable idiot and more importantly he is YOUR idiot. But soon he'll be a Sage, so let that sink in. Anyway, let me know if you need anything and you'll be hearing from us before you know it. Take care of yourself, and congratulations on your Exam performance! I hear that people are still talking about it.

Regards,

Jiraiya

She set down the scroll and took a chewy, unsatisfying bite of roasted squirrel.

"Is it gross?" Sato asked her.

"…a little. Just a little…gamey."

"Sorry. Next time we'll go with tubers, fish, and mushrooms like Shino suggested. Not the nearest squirrel in the nearest tree." Sato resolved.

Shino asked her, "Is that correspondence from Naruto?"

"Um…no, actually."

"No? But a toad delivered it." Sato noted.

"It's from Jiraiya-sama." Hinata clarified, "He had some things to tell me."

"Wow! I didn't know that you're with the in-crowd of Sages and stuff." Sato remarked, letting Aree and Aroo finish his unwanted share of squirrel dinner, "Though isn't he, like, pervvy and girls should avoid him-? Or so I've heard Tsunade-sama say."

"He's always been good and respectful, to me at least. I trust Gama-sennin."

"We all can." Shino agreed.

"Well yeah, and my uncle is one of his biggest fans. Do you know how much money Kakashi spends on that book series per year?" Sato fuddled around to try to boil tea beside the campfire, "An obscene amount."

Later, after winding down to sleep, Hinata lay awake and thought about Jiraiya's request.

There was absolutely no way she wanted any kind of harm to befall Naruto. She certainly understood the sense in the request. But she felt like tossing and turning on her bedroll, uneasy and upset that something could happen regardless of whether or not she communicated with Naruto. It would be terrible to find out he had turned to stone and learn of it days later from Jiraiya!

'No. He'll be safe.' But it had happened, it had already happened once, and how could she be sure it would not happen again? Hinata had never taken much time out of her schedule to sit and ponder what life would be like if, abruptly, Naruto could no longer be in hers. The visions in her mind were conjured up in sepia; bleak, arduous, but perhaps rimmed in silver lining that she had been fortunate enough to know and love him once.

'I can't get so worked up about this…I need to sleep…' Hinata balled the edge of her blanket beneath her chin, fretting with her eyes shut.

Or.

Or she could continue to get the reassurance she needed by communicating with an alternative party. Hinata imagined that since it wasn't so late at night, and because her jutsu would not disturb Sato and Shino as they were beginning to doze off, she ought to drop in on the Toad Sage himself.

By her estimations of brain-based global tracking, and overlapping with Naruto on Mount Myoboku, which was a bit further away geographically relative to her current position…Hinata did feel more resistance and tug on her chakra as she searched with the Misago Byakugan. Though it only took a few minutes before she was seeing out of a new set of eyes. Two large, age-roughened hands slammed down in shock on a low table's top in Fukasaku and Shima's house.

At about 10:30 that night, Jiraiya let go a bewildered, caribou-like bellow of surprise as he felt a very distinct, ghostly occupation. Though not quite. There was nothing ghostly about a very alive-and-well presence that chimed in greetings in his head, Good evening, Gama-sennin!

Jiraiya screamed again and fell backwards.

Shhh! Shhh! It's alright-!

"Confound it all!" A rice paper door slid aside at the edge of the sitting room, "Are you acting out scenes from your book again, Jiraiya-boy?" A small, elderly toad accused, "Ma and I are trying to sleep. Do you intend to wake Naruto-boy as well—?"

"Shush, whoa, shush Pa!" Jiraiya hissed, splayed on his back on tatami mats, "I'm hearing voices."

"I will burn that book and turn you out if you can't be quiet!"

"Look, you're the one who's shouting now." Jiraiya sat up and rubbed his head, "Give me a second, will ya? I think I might know what's going on."

Gama-sennin, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you! Kinji-san delivered your letter to me.

"Ohh—! Princess!" Jiraiya chuckled quietly, "You scared me into an early grave…phew."

Fukasaku sniffed in annoyance and warned Jiraiya to keep it down, if he insisted on having single-participant conversations. He shut the door.

I'm sorry, I know it can be very jarring…

"It's alright. I'm getting over it." He straightened his tunic and scooched back towards the sitting room table, "You caught me in the middle of a brainstorm. I've been writing for the last few days, and I wanted to make sure that you knew what happened to the knucklehead."

Is he really unharmed?

"Near as far as I can tell…" Jiraiya spoke softly and marked a journal page, closing it over a pen to keep his place, "I won't lie. I've never been that scared. I'm not a man in the habit of crying either, but that sort of thing…I just can't let it happen again. It was sudden. He was gone just like that."

Hinata made a small sound of distress in his head.

"I'll look after him, Princess." He added thoughtfully, "Naruto came back with more knowledge, he said. Spouting all kinds of Nature mumbo-jumbo and the things he saw. Maybe this was a good thing?"

Maybe.

"Yeah. Maybe, maybe not." Jiraiya agreed in a mutter, reaching for a tea pot, "He excels at testing the limits of my blood pressure."

Gama-sennin…

"Yes, Princess?"

I don't want to lose him.

"I know you don't."

But I know there isn't much…we can really do. None of us are made to last forever.

"Not made to last-! Heh." He chuckled, "Certainly not this crude matter we parade around in." Jiraiya soothed her, "But here in the valley we are taught…that death is an illusion. Life itself can't be destroyed. It changes. It turns over and over into new forms and fibers of the universe."

This ran contrary to what Hinata understood of universal balance, But life must have an opposite-?

"Yes." He lifted a cup of tea and took a sip, "The absence of it, not the end of it. The negative of what we know- of what we experience. The azoic and insentient... Lots of space and inverses. There are all kinds of old Nihongo and Sindhi terms for it. It's hard to explain this stuff…Sages deal in metaphors and will shrug at me and say: well, you'll just need to see it for yourself so go meditate by that pond over there!" Jiraiya shook his head in amusement, "If we can't last as ourselves as we know ourselves, maybe there's comfort in knowing there's more. Whatever that more is."

Yes. Hinata had a more upbeat tone of agreement, I can understand that feeling.

"And you'll never really lose him." Jiraiya reminded her.

If I did, Hinata thought, I would live well. Like Naruto-kun would want me to.

"Good girl." Jiraiya smiled to himself.

I may drop in sometimes…just to know if everything is well. She advised him, I promise I won't disturb him. I will wait. He'll be home soon…

"He will, he will…" He went on, "And Princess, really. It'll be fine. You can check with me anytime. Well. Avoid 8AM and 5PM, that's lavatory time. Other than that, I'll keep my eyes on Naruto."

Thank you, Gama-sennin.

"Say. Where are you right now?"

Oh! The Tea Country border. With my team on a mission.

"South of the Fire Country? Yikes, that's a bit of a stretch for you isn't it?"

It is…I don't think I could ever reach much farther than this. When I do, everything goes black. Hinata recalled being knocked unconscious by a previous, long-distance effort, It takes quite a bit of chakra.

"Then kiddo, call it a night. Get some rest and do your best for Tsunade." Jiraiya added, "Give her my regards, and let's keep Naruto's sojourn in nature between the two of us."

I will.

"Well then, goodnight and safe travels to you, Lady of the Hyuga. I've got some outlining to do." Jiraiya yawned, "And not long to do it! I'm bushed."

Good night, Gama-sennin.

Then, Jiraiya could tell with certainty that she had gone. He relaxed and returned to his journal, rubbing at his tired, craned neck.

'That's quite an odd power. Can do a world of good, though…' The man thought to himself, 'Naruto is blessed. May he stay blessed. And may the universe give me the means and strength to look after those two…and everyone who I refuse to lose this time.'

The quiet of the house was peaceful, edging into the later hours of the night.

"Hm! That was a delightful conversation." Jiraiya noted out loud.

---

Mornings are for tea and contemplation at the Hyuga house.

But not this morning.

The sun rose and Neji heaved himself from bed in the dim light, dressed, and then crossed town to continue his search. Quite unlike Tsunade had promised, Tenten was nowhere to be found in the morning. Not in her home, not her workshop, and not at Lee's residence, though Neji passed by to confirm it.

Her inexplicable absence made his imagination run wild. Neji surveyed corners and passageways of the village with the Byakugan in vain on his way back to the Hyuga estate.

Perhaps she was out, beyond the borders of the Leaf Village. On what business she had gone he could never guess, but Neji supposed that could be the case. He would be sure to make Tenten explain herself as soon as she reappeared.

Perhaps she had decided, in whatever state of mind she'd been in after her introduction to Hiashi, that she would rather not be his companion. Tenten herself had declared her appreciation of independence, and had been challenged by the etiquette of his clan. It was not so far outside the realm of possibility.

But call him presumptuous— Neji would insist that if she had dealt with his temper and bad choices over the last five years, Tenten was not likely to be dissuaded by one evening among the Hyuga's Main House. He wanted to believe that she valued him enough to put up with the extra botheration.

Then the other, more nauseating, most unnerving thought came to mind. At least from the most basic information he had gleaned from Gai and the Hokage, Neji understood that Huo's post-exam interrogation and evaluations were to end with his chaperoned extradition back to Iwagakure. What if he had slipped away from supervisors? What if he had snuck with Shadow Step through the alleys of Konohagakure, since he'd had a month to study the city's roads? What if he had been successful in his hunt and Tenten was now at his mercy, or worse?

"Neji-niisan!"

On the lawn of the estate, Neji stopped and noticed Hinata trotting in from the front gate. Very quickly she took stock of his appearance, unsure of why he had such pronounced under-eye discoloration and ruddiness.

"Good morning, Hinata-sama." His voice was gravelly. He walked with her back to the house.

"Nii-san…"

"How was your mission?"

"Pleasant. A good stretch of the legs." Hinata railroaded the description in favor of asking, "Um…is something the matter? You don't look dressed for the meeting."

"What meeting?" His memory was fuzzy, but as she spoke her next words, Neji immediately remembered.

"The full clan meeting. It begins in one hour."

Neji palmed his face and groaned quietly. So. He would not be recruiting Fujita and others willing to join a search party to see if Huo and Tenten were locatable, or perhaps locked in a life or death duel. Clan obligations took precedence.

Once inside the house, Neji fed his cousin a few white lies: yes, he was fine. No, training could wait, his team would wait for him. Yes, fine. Tired, though, and that's why he had forgotten the meeting. He would clean up and be presentable. Yes, he'd like to hear about her travels later.

They went separate ways in the corridor, and Neji mustered the gumption to wash his face, tie his hair acceptably, and determine that he was wearing a messy, day-old shirt before changing into something clean. His body was in the Hyuga house, but his mind and spirit had taken flight and were searching in all directions. He felt sick with worry.

In the tea room Neji barely ate. He sat at the table and tumbled through his thoughts. Hanabi flicked a piece of orange peel at his face from across the table, snapping him out of his trance-like state.

"Neji-niisan. If you don't feel like eating I can throw things into your mouth."

"No, Hanabi-sama—"

"You've been acting weird." She deadpanned.

"I have no appetite."

When Hinata entered the room, changed and cleaned up from her mission, Hanabi warned her sister, "Onee-san, he's been acting weird for two days! Not talking or eating, wandering around!"

With a distressed look, Hinata took a seat beside Neji and processed that his "I'm fine" statements were probably false.

Neji gruffed at Hanabi, "I've had a lot of thinking to do. I have been asked to not share any major decision of mine until after today's meeting."

"Oh?" Hanabi was cramming orange slices into her mouth, "Major decisions?"

Hinata gave him a sidelong look while picking at her own fruit plate, "Nii-san…what else?"

"What else?" He echoed.

"Something else happened. You look terrible. I could tell something was wrong."

He was silent, twitching his nose. He could not get away with withholding information for long. Neji elected to be honest, "I have no idea where Tenten is."

Hanabi set her bowl down on the table, slowly and dramatically. She made a face at him, prying for some kind of elaboration while also making her own assumptions.

Hinata was not yet panicked, "She doesn't have a mission or-?"

"No activities that I know of. She is nowhere in the village that I've checked."

Hinata pressed, "And she didn't…?"

"No." Neji added, "She didn't tell me or Lee…that she would be gone."

"You're dumped." Hanabi forecasted.

Neji continued frowning.

"You've been dumped." Hanabi emphasized, "She was cool and I liked her. But when Tenten was in this house she checked every room for an exit like she was ready to make a run for it."

Hinata hissed and swiped at her trouble-making sibling, "Hanabi! You know that isn't true!"

"No, I don't know. All we know is that she's not around, and Neji-niisan is freaking out."

"Well…"

Hanabi tossed an orange at Neji and it struck him in the clavicle, falling with a dull thud to the table.

"Eat." She commanded.

Hinata took another corrective swipe at Hanabi.

"You'll live." Hanabi encouraged Neji while ducking away from the corrections.

Neji finally spoke again, "After the meeting…I'm going to keep looking for her."

"I'll help!" Hinata immediately volunteered.

"Me too, I guess." Hanabi supposed, starting on a plate of croquettes.

With that settled, and Neji too agitated to try to bring up their great grandfather's machinations, he took unenthusiastic bites of watermelon. He listened to Hinata's recollection of her mission, and grew interested when she mentioned a message from Jiraiya.

"Why would he write to you instead of Naruto?" Neji was keen to the change.

"Well…" Hinata wondered how to put it, "Naruto's training has grown more serious. Gama-sennin hopes that a reduction in communication will distract him less."

"I don't see how the occasional letter is a distraction." Neji said, peeling an orange for himself.

"Depends on what's in the letter…" Hanabi snarked.

Neji froze and stared in shock at the young girl. What a suggestion. Hinata was slack-jawed as well. After a moment, the two girls reached simultaneously for the fruit bowl in order to begin a tangerine and apple-throwing war. Annoyed, Neji barked at them to knock it off. Hanabi just cackled and wrestled the bowl from her sister, clocking her with an apple as Hinata blocked with her arms.

By some miracle, Kō opened the door of the room and interrupted them, "Eh-hem! My lord and ladies…Hiashi-sama asked that you get to the auditorium early. He expects the forum to be full today."

"How early?" Hanabi wondered as she put the bowl down.

"Now." Kō clarified, "This meeting may run long. There are many topics to discuss…" He eyed the mess on the table, "And I hope that you three will have at least settled your differences before you enter that room."

He chuckled to himself and moved on, leaving the door of the tea room open.

They finished a few last bites before setting out, turning down long hallways towards the large tatami room that connected the Main and Branch houses. On the way, Neji gazed out of windows and watched fierce winds bend and rustle trees outside. It was the kind of overcast day with winds that heralded an approaching summer thunderstorm. The chaotic plinking of wind chimes hung above the outdoor engawa drove Neji mad.

He was supposed to be a genius. He was supposed to figure it all out. How had he come to feel so helpless, so clueless on how to approach these issues? What was the right thing to do? Where was Tenten? How was he supposed to explain to Hinata and Hanabi the duress he was under?

Neji took a deep breath through his nose and resigned to himself, no, maybe he wasn't so smart. Maybe he was hurting too much to remember how he normally solved problems. Genius is an unfair standard, he thought, when all he wanted was to feel like a person; not the figure on the pedestal or the strongest piece on the chess board.

Maybe this was exactly what Haburo wanted. That he wanted to reduce Neji and make him so emotionally raw that countermeasures could not even come to mind. Neji wondered if he could have ever expected, as a younger man, that he would become so unreliable when his emotions and dreams were crushed.

At the meeting room, Neji followed Hanabi and Hinata to the front where Hiashi was already seated on a cushion on the right side of the room. Slightly beyond was an elevated section of wood flooring where elders would take their seats on zabuton cushions. Branch members filed into the room, chatting quietly amongst themselves, and on the left side opposite of Hiashi and his youngsters, Hikamei, Kayato, and Fujita settled down. The soft din of talk and catching up persisted until all of the Main House elders had arrived.

Hichida, who was the youngest serving member of the clan's elders, raised his hands to signal the start of the meeting. He glanced over a list in hand, scanning his eyes over the crowd, "No need for role-call with such a full house…and I have nine absences marked for missions…"

"And two out for Intel Corps committee meetings." Elder Hosuke added in a raspy voice.

"And two more, yes Hikomi and Hasedera…" Hichida marked his list and commented sidelong to his elder companions, "They're qualified for promotions, no? They've been with the Corps for seven years and haven't been elevated above analyst level. They work much too hard to not be recognized as advisors…"

"We can discuss that when they return, if they would like us to make recommendations." Haburo offered. His eyes were drooping and he looked uninspired for the meeting.

After that, Haburo called the meeting to order and the agenda was adhered to. Everything was covered: birth announcements, achievements and awards, enrollment at the Academy, annual budget estimates and projects, replanting the back property with trees (that Neji had cut down accidentally with Wind Release), and recognizing the one year anniversary of Elder Hagumi's death, the only serving female elder in recent years.

It was hard to digest the drivel. Some input from Branch members was much easier on the ears. Neji would have preferred jamming chopsticks in his eyes to gazing upon the line of elders ahead of him, so he stared catatonically at the floor. Near the back of the room, a baby started crying in her mother's arms. The Branch member smoothly excused herself into the hallway to soothe the babe.

With so many human bodies crammed into one room in summer, it began to warm up uncomfortably as time passed. Neji trolled his eyes to the left, and noticed that Fujita was looking uncharacteristically alert. He seemed healthier and well-dressed. He was probably taking missions again, Neji assumed. He also noticed that beside Fujita, his mother Kayato was seated without her husband. Neji wondered why Hideyasu had not been marked absent at role-call, or if he was expected to arrive late.

Two-thirds of the way through news updates from the Taketori clan, corroborated by a few Branch members as elders Hayama and Hizen covered topics, the side door of the forum slid open. A servant shut it after Hideyasu entered, and the man greeted his elders wordlessly, but caught their attention with a hand gesture. Hichida nodded to him in acknowledgment.

Smiling, Hideyasu sat down beside his wife. Then Kayato started smiling too.

Neji had never seen anything half so strange at a clan meeting. He snuck a look at Hanabi and Hinata seated to his right, who seemed to pay the arrival and facial expressions no mind. They were bored to tears.

When Taketori news was concluded, Hideyasu made eye contact with Hichida and Hosuke, prompting Hichida to speak up, "We move on to acknowledge one final matter before taking questions and adjourning the meeting. Hideyasu-sama and Kayato-sama…" He gestured to the pair seated beside Fujita, "Have an announcement they would like to share with the clan."

Hinata and Hanabi seemed to wake up a little. They paid closer attention to the clan steward and his family. Beside them, Neji was perplexed.

Hideyasu exchanged a glance with Kayato before turning to Branch members, "As you know, our eldest son died this year and…nothing has been the same since."

The thing of it was, Hideyasu and Kayato were very popular with the Branch. While most preferred keeping Hiashi at arm's length, and many had warmed up to Neji and Hinata, Hideyasu commanded most of the Branch's respect. So it was no surprise when a chorus of sympathy, remembrance, and kind words came back to Hideyasu and he gently tried to quiet down the chattering.

"But we have some good news we would like to share with everyone." Hideyasu went on, "My wife and I just adopted a child."

Sympathetic chattering converted into surprised, excited mutters. This was not something that happened; not any more often than a rare, once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence within the Branch, maybe every decade or so. But for it to occur in the Main House was unusual. Many were pleased that Hideyasu and Kayato, who were famously skilled parents, were willing to go at it again.

What Neji found stranger than the announcement itself was Elder Hosuke's endorsement, "Yes, all of the Hyuga clan has grieved the loss of Hikune, our young lord. We elders can vouch that your parenting," He was speaking directly to Hideyasu and Kayato, "Will make any child more secure and bring them prosperity. Not since my wife and I took our own oaths to raise two additional boys…there can be no safer haven for children than the Hyuga clan."

Ah, so, Neji gathered Hosuke must have adopted too at some time in the past. He sort of tuned it out when Hosuke asked Hideyasu if the child had been brought home or was still in the care of a facility. Hideyasu mentioned that if everyone did not mind a few extra minutes in a hot room, he would be happy to introduce the new addition.

Haburo interjected, "That isn't optional, Hideyasu. Your child is a member of the Main House and must set an example for all of the clan. If the adoptee is present, bring them before us now."

"Right…" The man rose while Kayato and Fujita stayed seated, watching as he returned to the side door and poked his head out of it. He had a word with someone outside and the attending servant. He took a step back and let a very well-dressed girl enter, making a poised, one-foot-in-front-of-the-other walk to the front and center mats before the elders. Without any cue from Hideyasu as he took his seat again, the "child" sank into a highly formal bow and touched her head to the floor, thanking the elders for receiving her.

There are times when the human mind needs a few additional microseconds to catch up to what the eyes see. This was one of those times.

Neji's vacant expression was steadfast as he watched the newcomer's back, rising up to sit on her heels while dressed in white and red cheongsam. The braided buns were familiar, the hues of skin and hair, the approximate height, all familiar— but the statement made by crest of the Hyuga clan embroidered in a circle on the back of the young woman's dress made no sense. At first.

As Tenten sat there, focusing her attention on Hosuke's driveling and greetings, Hinata reacted far more (though infinitesimally) than Neji did beside her at the edge of the room. She fidgeted and made a tiny sound, completely bewildered that Hideyasu and Kayato had not only adopted someone who was not an infant, but was also someone she knew incredibly well. Neji was just not processing it. Hanabi pinched his arm discreetly and he gave her his attention.

"Found her." Hanabi muttered.

Neji did not have the capacity to reprimand Hanabi for the sarcasm. He retreated into his brain where a yes-no flow chart popped up to make step by step sense of what was going on.

Haburo set his eyes on Tenten and made some considerations. He did not question the legitimacy of Hideyasu's choice or his motivations, but Haburo was not stupid enough to ignore how big of a loophole had been exploited in his mandate because of this occurrence. For the time being, he addressed the young woman with dignity, "Welcome. We elders of the Hyuga clan will recognize you as Hideyasu and Kayato's daughter, and Fujita's sister, henceforth."

"Thank you…" Tenten had her ear trained on Hideyasu a few steps away, and he inaudibly fed her lines, "…Haburo-sama." Hideyasu have her a tiny thumbs up, as she had used the correct name to address the elder.

Haburo turned to Hideyasu and the man seemed to remember himself, "Oh! Yes, Great Elder and everyone-!" Hideyasu addressed the clan as a whole, "This is Tenten, I meant to say. Please accept her and share our ways with her."

And then all Branch members began buzzing at a higher volume. Many people recognized her, and some even knew that she had been a Semi-Finalist at the Exam and was Neji's teammate. Questions and murmurs abounded.

"Tenten," Haburo went on, "You shall represent our clan with distinction in everything you do. You shall bring your honorable parents pride and be loyal to the Hyuga clan. Respect our traditions and your elders." When she nodded and agreed in a small voice, Haburo addressed all other clan members, "Let it be understood that this is a daughter of the Main House. Our Branch members will recognize her legitimacy and call on her as a Lady." He then motioned dismissively with his hand, signaling Tenten to relocate beside Hideyasu in a free seat.

The elders welcomed her in unison. Only one elder raised a hand to wave frailly at the adopted girl, the 100-year-old, nearly deaf and age-brittle Elder Akataiyo. He was smiling warmly.

"I'll add her to the roster." Elder Hichida added as an afterthought, scribbling on his clipboard.

"And pass this update along to our absentee members." Haburo advised Hichida, then to the clan, "For any questions—"

His voice was drowned out by a clamor as all Branch members stood from their seats and bustled to the front of the room. They paid their elders no mind as they circled 'round Hideyasu's family to inquire and congratulate.

With a sigh, Haburo adjourned the meeting and excused himself from the room. The other elders followed suit, evacuating on tired legs and knowing better than to get tangled in the crowd. Their personal introductions could wait.

Neji had come out of the other end of his brain flow chart, trying to answer his own questions. This was intentional. Hideyasu had actively tried to subvert Haburo's mandate in an effort to give Neji a more suitable option. Haburo was probably aware that this was the scheme, and Neji dearly hoped he would not concoct a new method of retaliation to respond in kind. After overcoming a few seconds of panic about how this development could be thwarted regardless, Neji took a breath.

Kayato and Hideyasu, he realized, quite liked Tenten. The fact that they were willing to adopt her, for his benefit, probably had to do with the fact that they could all get along. Yet the craziest aspect of this conspiracy was Tenten herself, Neji thought as he sat in a stupor. She had not sought him out yesterday to bring any of this up, although now he guessed she had probably been busy preparing. Likewise, he had been unable to explain to her any of the recent events he needed to get off his chest. But why? He wondered why she had agreed to it. On such short notice, bowing her head for one of the most stringent, self-aggrandizing clans in Konohagakure; how had Tenten abided by this adoption knowing full well it would exact a tremendous toll on her?

Hanabi jabbed her elbow in his ribs. He sputtered angrily and rounded on the girl.

"Hello? We've been talking to you, Neji-niisan." Hanabi indicated Hiashi and Hinata were watching him as well, "Dad asked if you are in shock."

"Is that what this is called?" He blinked slowly.

"It could be. I apologize for not providing you with any warning, Neji." Hiashi informed him, "But time constraints and your…frequent comings and goings from the house prevented me from bringing it up."

"Father, why would Auntie and Uncle want to do something like this so suddenly?" Hinata was curious, "Tenten-neesan just had her introduction with us. Did something happen?"

"We can get into the details later." Hiashi decided as he got to his feet, "When complications made Neji's request difficult to fulfill, Hideyasu decided there was a more roundabout way to achieve the same result." He excused himself to go have breakfast and tea.

Hanabi was only partly flummoxed, "I don't get it, but whatever. Now she's just going to have to deal with the same headaches we do." She stood and extended a hand to Hinata, pulling her up, "Tenten will be busy in that swarm of Branch members for a while. Onee-san, come outside with me and let's get some fresh air."

While giving Neji a parting look of cautious optimism Hinata asked, "That wasn't a bad surprise, was it?"

"I…ask me again when I take corporeal form." Neji recommended.

Hinata patted his arm and then left with her sister.

Neji set aside his stupefaction in favor of rising and trying to covertly muscle in through a wall of Branch members. He gave up after seeing the rest of the clan patiently take turns to meet their newest member. He should wait his turn too. After all, Neji thought, he got to see Tenten on an everyday basis. Letting others get to know her was more important. Neji skirted around to the side of the room and watched the interactions.

Hizome had gotten first crack at congratulating her brother and sister-in-law's adoption of Tenten. Hikamei stood nearby, silent and impassive, but Hizome closed in to clap Tenten's cheeks in her hands.

"So now I have a niece!" Hizome crowed, "Very nice to meet you, young lady. I'm Hizome. Hideyasu is my big brother, and Hikamei there is my big sister. Oh and look here— this is my husband, Senju Masanari," She passed Tenten down the line of people to say hello, "Our sons: Nyozeka, Hirokazu, and Tsukuru. Here's our cousin Arisu, and over here we have Tokuma, Kei, Hisako, Hatora, Jun, Iroha, Hoheto and there's Kō…"

The amount of handshaking and bowing was surely going to snap Tenten's neck, though she pleasantly greeted each person. All seemed surprisingly amicable and interested in her, despite the Hyuga's reputation stating otherwise. Kayato was bubbly and going on about how nice it was to have a daughter to design things for and talk about girly things with. Many Branch women robustly agreed with the sentiment. Fujita, after escaping Hideyasu's mirthful introductions, was able to introduce Tenten to many of the children who had pressed forward to get a closer look at her. She was a sensation among curious clan members.

After nearly thirty minutes of salutations, the room was stifling and the crowd began to disperse. Tenten respectfully asked Kayato and Hideyasu to let her have a break outside on the porch. She retreated to the engawa to get a breath of fresh, cool air. The wind whipped her face as it propelled storm clouds overhead.

Tenten exhaled roughly and leaned against a wooden support beam. It was a gauntlet just surviving the welcome, but actually abiding by Hyuga clan standards? 'I don't know if I can do it with finesse, but I can give it the old college try…'

She shut her eyes and calmed down. It was only a little insane to agree to all of this. To react to everything she had been told in a single day, and take on such a challenge in so little time. But since everyone had been nice about it so far, that took the edge off. Tenten appreciated that.

Neji slid the door shut behind him when he stepped onto the engawa. Then he stood there and watched Tenten decompress until she noticed and acknowledged him, "Oh, hi Neji! I haven't seen you in…I don't know how long."

He nodded.

"It's a bit windy today." Tenten sat down, dangling her legs off the porch's ledge, "I…uh…" She looked at him and motioned him over, "Come sit down. I just need a few minutes."

So he did. Neji closed the distance and took a seat beside her, coming to his senses finally. He stared out at the lawn and, ever so slowly, let the corners of his mouth tug into a smile. While he was restless over her absence and what decision he should make, Tenten had been at the estate the whole time. Right under his nose.

"This is quite the undertaking, you know." Neji told her.

"I know."

"Do you understand the implications of your fealty to the Hyuga clan?"

"Yup." She confirmed, "I'm already getting bossed around. I got a spiel about being educated in other traditions…you know, which I'm so good at already. I have to learn about the Caged Bird Seal, since that's some sick prerequisite for being a part of the Main House. I'll need to keep up appearances and maintain good relations with other clans. Stuff like that."

"There is much more than that." Neji turned toward her, "You will be subject to intense scrutiny and other duties. You won't be permitted to live outside of the estate."

"Yeah, Kayato explained that me. I had no idea." Tenten's shoulders drooped, "Hideyasu said I could take my time to pack belongings at home…but I will have to live here."

"You have to." Neji did not sound like he was disappointed about it, "But you'll live in relative luxury."

"Well, that's a trade-off, true."

"You won't need to bring much with you."

"For sentimental value, there are some things I don't want to leave behind." Tenten disagreed, "So congrats, Neji, you're hired to help me stuff things into boxes later."

Neji did not object. He could distantly hear the wind chimes on the far side of the house swirling in the strong breeze.

"…it will be a burden." Neji aired some of his concern, "On you. All of this will be difficult. I have no idea if I can even…defend you from what influences will try to act on you now."

"You don't have to." Tenten smiled and poked his thigh, "I'm here to defend you. Hideyasu told me about the whole predicament. He said…you wanted to join the Branch Family. There were a lot of reasons why," She tilted her head back and added, "But I didn't want to be one of them."

Staring at her in profile felt surreal, almost as if he was imagining all of it. He had been so caught up in trying to think his way out of a jam; Neji did not notice the rest of his family had been working on solutions to help. Of course they had approached Tenten for assistance. She would be more than willing to stick her neck out for him, even if it meant her routines, environment, and freedoms would be shaken up and turned inside out.

And the mon of the Hyuga on the back of her dress looked like it belonged there. Kayato had seen to that.

"You know what's embarrassing?" Tenten lowered her voice, aware of how he had laid his hand over hers on the porch, "All of the paperwork. I mean, it was a tall, extensive stack. Signing all of that and then the legal name change…it was downright weird."

He raised his eyebrows, "Name change?"

"Uh…is it technically a change if my files never included a surname?" She wasn't sure.

Neji just looked at her as it sunk in that she had taken the Hyuga name.

"Also, Kayato told me not to be too chatty with some Branch members because gossip does spread around here, apparently. Hideyasu said that I can't act too familiar with you either, at least for now. We can get approval to date, but he asked me to really sell it for your elders. I should act disinterested in you— like this isn't some big conspiracy."

His chest hurt a little. While she made remarks about how she had been advised, watching clouds roll darkly overhead, Neji felt a sharp pang of gratitude he had never before experienced.

He had been prepared to sacrifice something he had valued above all else, for so long, because she had surpassed that goal's value. The fact that Tenten had sacrificed something for him first assured him that he had chosen correctly. Even if he took the rest of his life to thank her, it still wouldn't feel like enough. Even if Haburo still desired to hurl obstacles at him, and Neji ended up in the Branch anyway for convenience's sake or sheer insubordination, he would always be thankful for this day.

Tenten cleared her throat. Neji glanced back to her as she gently pushed on his shoulder.

"You're a little too close. I was told that we'll be watched for a while, or until I become commonplace around here." She shimmied for some space, and drew her hand away from him, "Sell it, Neji. I know you're probably feeling—"

"Happy." He supplied a word.

"Huh…I was going to say antsy." Tenten fought a smile, "How about…we talk to a few more people inside? Then, you can show me where my habitation is and where I can find the restrooms. Critical information. Later, we'll pack up stuff at my flat while you explain what I'm in for."

"And while off premises there will be no need for us to keep up appearances." Neji reminded her.

She cheerily agreed, "Absolutely not. I have no intention of keeping my hands to myself while off-site."

"Neither do I."

Maintaining an arm's length distance, they returned indoors as the first heavy drops of a summer storm struck the ground.

---

Note: You may have noticed the Anchorman (Ron Burgundy), Star Wars (Yoda), and Stranger Things (Jim Hopper) references in this chapter. That merits a double high-five! Clan politics don't get any easier, but it helps when someone is on your side. A track list for this fic is available on SoundCloud under tigerowl-sensei, see my profile page up top for a link.

I think we got a bit deeper than usual with the Buddhism concepts and very real human emotions that affect landmark decisions. Thanks for taking the ride, Reader.

Chapter 42-Blondie Sage (A Nine-Tailed Fox Introduces Himself)